To decide on the terms of reference for your report, read your instructions and any other information you`ve been given about the report, and think about the purpose of the report:~ What is it about?~ What exactly is needed?~ Why is it needed?~ When do I need to do it?~ Who is it for, or who is it aimed at?This will help you draft your Terms of reference.

Before you begin the report, you must first know why you are writing it in the first place. Reports are of many kinds but they are either meant to inform or persuade. It can be meant for describing a technical process, sharing background information, or demonstrate progress on a project. Ask yourself – What and Why. This will help you distill the purpose to the one main point and stick to it instead of rambling on with unnecessary details.

The second important consideration is to evaluate your audience. Will they be able to understand what you are talking about? Are there different levels of readers who will read the report? The reader’s knowledge of the subject will greatly influence the information that you need to include.

The visual draw of your professional report comes together with the “beautification” you apply to the content. Formatting is also an essential step for a document that flows well. So, you must focus a lot of energy on picking the right font, paragraph space, and the colors.

Once you have your structure, write down the headings and start to fill these in with the information you have gathered so far. By now you should be able to draft the terms of reference, procedure and findings, and start to work out what will go in the report’s appendix.